


Adrenaline

by AnotherSongAnotherMile



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-05-20 07:24:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14890133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherSongAnotherMile/pseuds/AnotherSongAnotherMile
Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Mac and Riley take comfort in each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just filling my need to write something relationship-y Mac/Riley.

MacGyver had always took for granted that Riley had come out of every mission basically unscathed. She had been in the line of fire a few times, sure, but he and Jack and always managed to keep her either in the van or directly out of harm’s way during missions they knew would be particularly dangerous. Mac had to admit, that with both Riley and even Nikki, it was a great relief knowing they could do most of their work remotely. Even while they fought with terrorists over an EMP, Riley a mere 20 feet away from the enemy while attempting to hack the jet, she had never found herself the direct target of their violence.

No, the bad guys never really seemed to have much interest in a girl with a computer when she was accompanied with a brawny sharp-shooter and a guy who could disarm bombs with gum wrappers and paperclips.

That is, until today.

“Tell me where you put the drive.”

The cold, sharp blade pressed against Riley’s throat, the man standing over where she kneeled held her head back roughly by her ponytail as Mac looked on helplessly. He could feel the barrel of the pistol the man behind him held pressed against the base of his skull, but right now, that was the least of his worries.

“I told you that I don’t _know_ where it is!” his voice cracked, pleading. A lie. He knew it, Riley knew it, and, apparently, so did the bad guys.

Roberto Conway wasn’t an idiot. He knew that his cousin had sold out their family business. After their compound had been raided, their arms confiscated, and their former leader arrested, Alexander had simply disappeared without a word. Roberto knew the U.S. government had changed Alexander’s identity, had sent him away somewhere to keep him safe. The loss of money the organization had incurred from the confiscated arms and the arrest and imprisonment of Charles Conway, Roberto’s father, and other key members of the organization had never been the real issue. Alexander’s deceit had been.

Alexander Conway was not a great man. Sure, he had helped to bring down an illegal arms dealer the FBI had been after for the past 15 years, but he was still a crook, and definitely not someone Mac would willingly put Riley’s life on the line to protect. The problem was the other files that had been downloaded onto the flash drive—the files of dozes of innocent people who the Phoenix Foundation had promised to keep safe after they had testified: Files that would potentially lead directly to their whereabouts. They were people whose lives Roberto Conway wouldn’t give a second thought if he decided to sell the information.

“Then you would prefer I send your friend’s head home in a box, then?” the man asked, pushing the sharp blade hard enough across Riley’s skin to draw a bead of blood. Mac winced, a feeling of dread plaguing him.

Riley was trembling, tears shining in her eyes as she stared up at him. Mac would never forget that look for the rest of his life. She wouldn’t plead for her life, Mac knew that. Riley knew he couldn’t give up the information, but the desperation in her eyes made Mac’s heart clench. Knowing you’re about to die is terrible—seeing that knowledge reflected in the eyes of someone you care about was the absolute worst.

It was Lake Como all over again.

This was supposed to be a simple mission of retrieving the drive from a bank’s safety deposit box; it was deemed unnecessary for Jack to even come along. It had been taken only hours before Matty had assigned the mission and time was of the essence. Mac and Riley were only to bypass the vault’s code, get the drive, and protect its information before the Conway family had managed to find the right person to decode the file.

It had been Riley’s job to encrypt the data on the drive with an unbreakable code and transmit it to Pheonix before destroying the source in the _unlikely_ event it fall into the wrong hands during the mission, but she and Mac had been separated. Mac went after Riley, and knowing that Roberto’s men where hot on their trail, he had quickly hidden the drive in a place where he knew no one would look—the glove compartment of an old Toyota sedan outside the dilapidated factory. When he realized they had taken Riley, he had called in for backup instantly, but things had escalated quickly from there. They caught Mac and Roberto’s men had found their comms and smashed them, destroying any chance of Matty being able to quickly locate the agents.

“You can watch her die first,” Roberto threatened, “before we kill you. Know that I will take my time when I slit her throat. Know that I will make her screams the last thing you ever hear,” the man promised.

Riley tried her best to stay perfectly still as the blade cut a mere millimeter into her skin. Her heart beat rapidly as she attempted to keep herself as composed as possible. She knew exactly what was at stake with this mission—exactly how many innocent people could die if Mac gave up that drive. At the same time, she also knew the unlikelihood of making it out of this mission alive, and she could tell by Mac’s expression that he hadn’t the faintest clue how to get them out of this.

Mac didn’t doubt for one second that Roberto would slit her throat right there in front of him. He had studied his file on the plane and knew what a ruthless man they were dealing with. Funny how illegal arms dealers never had a heart of gold.

Mac knew if the man did not get exactly what he wanted, he would have to watch his friend and partner quickly bleed to death before the goon standing behind him put him out of his misery with a bullet to the head.

Roberto put more pressure on the blade, causing Riley to gasp, and she choked back a sob as a small drip of blood dripped down her neck.

 “ _Stop_!”

Mac closed his eyes, swallowing hard.

“Just…stop.”

Roberto smiled, pleased, as he placed the knife back into the sheath of his belt and pulled Riley up from the ground by her hair, causing her to cry out.

“Seems pretty girls are every man’s weakness,” he said with a grin, nodding at his men to keep their firearms trained on Mac and pushing Riley towards the exit. Riley tried to meet Mac’s gaze—tried to anticipate his plan—but he seemed dissatisfied in himself, looking at the ground as he led the men to the parking lot outside. Roberto tugged roughly at her arm with a violent jerk, causing her to wince in pain.

“Stop that,” he growled at the girl, paranoid.

Mac side-eyed the man, frowning.

“Don’t try anything, kid. Remember, I have more than enough bullets for the both of you,” he warned Mac.

Mac led the men to a car parked behind an old flatbed tractor trailer.

“It’s in the glove compartment,” he began, making for the door handle. Roberto released his grip on Riley before roughly shoved Mac to the ground face first, pushing his boot down onto the agent’s middle back and causing him to grunt in pain. Roberto leaned down, pressing his body weight against the young agent’s spine. Pain spiked through Mac’s body as blood dripped from his nose and he grimaced against the asphalt.

“I told you,” Roberto said, his voice cold as he leaned over him. “I am not a stupid man. I know what you’re capable of.” He pushed up off Mac’s back, opening the car door and kneeling onto the passenger side seat before pulling open the glove compartment.

Mac looked to Riley, who still looked badly shaken as she braced herself against the trunk of the car, quickly wiping away a few stray tears she had been trying to hold back. Roberto’s thugs still trained their guns on them, but they showed more interest in the contents of the car’s glove compartment. Mac rolled over with a grunt, swiftly grabbing at the latch of the loaded trailer, and pulled hard, freeing its load of steel pipes before ducking beneath the trailer to shield himself from the heavy load that spilled out. Large, heavy pipes smashed onto the hood of the car, causing the airbags to deploy and, therefore, trapping Roberto inside. Riley yelped as she jumped back, the pipes spilling everywhere, knocking men over and breaking ankles.

Mac waited for the pipes to settle before crawling out from beneath the flatbed trailer and clumsily working his way through the mess of pipes. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his body shaking as he made his way to the back of the car where Riley stayed crouched. She stared up at him, stunned.

“You okay?” he asked, though it was apparent she had escaped any of the rolling objects from the load.

“Y-yeah-“

He grabbed her forearm, pulling her up from the ground. “Then we need to get out of here!” he insisted, tugging her along.

“Mac! The flash drive-“

“Wasn’t in that car,” he finished. “But those guys aren’t gonna stay down for long.”

She let Mac lead her away from the factory, sprinting through a series of alleyways and back into the van before speeding away. Riley rooted through her backpack for her cell phone before updating Matty on their whereabouts. Fifteen minutes later a TAC team showed up, arresting Roberto and his men and carting them off to jail.

*

“You should see a medic,” Mac insisted in the bathroom of Riley’s hotel room a couple of hours later after they had located the drive, satisfied that the remaining members of the Conway family were out of their way. He poured a small amount of iodine from the first aid kit onto a cotton ball, gently swabbing the cut on Riley’s neck with a shaky hand and causing her to wince. “It’s not deep, but it could get infected and-“

“And that’s what the iodine is for,” she pointed out. “Besides, I’m fine. I’m not the one who took a beating,” she insisted, holding out her hand for the iodine before treating the abrasions on Mac’s face accordingly. He stood still, watching her as she wiped away the dried blood that dripped from his nostrils.

“How’s your back?”

“It’s been better,” he admitted. With a sigh, she motioned for him to turn around. Riley rose the hem of the back of Mac’s button-up shirt, revealing dark bruises over his mid and lower back. “Hold on,” she told him, filling up a bag with ice from the hotel’s ice bucket before pressing it against Mac’s back, causing him to inhale sharply.

“How did you know to do that?” she asked Mac, taking his hand into hers and having him hold the pack in place while she ushered him out of the bathroom and into a seat on her bed. “How did you know that he would want to get the drive himself? Or that those pipes would deploy the airbag? It all worked so perfectly. You honestly made it seem like you were giving up.”

Mac sighed, closing his eyes and tightening his hold on the icepack. Riley took the pack from his hands, moving it up higher on his back to the area with the darkest bruising.

“That’s because I was,” he admitted. “I was taking him to the car where I had actually hidden the drive when it became apparent how paranoid he was. I saw the semi and the load it was carrying. I knew he wouldn’t trust me to fish the drive out of the glove compartment myself. It was a split-second decision.”

Mac looked up to meet Riley’s surprised expression.

“I knew I had to protect that drive at all costs. I knew the lives that were at stake, but, I just couldn’t….” Mac pulled his hand over his face in anguish, swallowing hard and attempting to compose himself. “I knew that they were going to kill you right there in front of me. I just couldn’t let them do that.”

“And now you feel guilty,” Riley said quietly. If there was in disdain to her statement, she didn’t show it.

“Yes. But not because I was ignoring orders or putting the information at risk,” he admitted. “Because the whole thing was a long shot—being able to dump the load, not getting shot at, not getting you killed…” He shook his head. “Riley, I still could have gotten you killed if everything hadn’t panned out just perfectly!” The realization did nothing to calm him.

“But it _did_.”

Mac paused.

“Yeah,” he agreed, still not looking happy with himself.

There was an awkward silence directly following Mac’s admission.

Riley sighed. “Mac, I knew what I signed on for when I began this job. I know what my chances are of not making it home from a mission someday.”

Mac hunched forward, pulling shaky hands through his hair. Adrenaline still coursed through his body and Mac couldn’t wait for his nerves to settle so at least physically he could begin to feel normal again.

“That’s what makes it so much worse. As our analyst, your risk is supposed to be limited, and it sure wasn’t today,” he said with a sarcastic chuckle. “It’s bad enough realizing my best friend is being employed to _die_ for me. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

She nodded. “I also know _you_ , Mac. And you would do anything and everything in your power to keep Jack—and me and Bozer—from getting hurt.”

“We shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.”

Riley rolled her eyes, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Only you could successfully complete a mission like that and still blame yourself for the things you managed not to let happen,” she told him, shaking her head.

Mac looked down, playing with the icepack in his hands wishing he had a paperclip instead—anything to keep his hands busy.

“Look, are you hungry?” Riley finally asked him, changing the subject that was getting way to serious for her liking. “Why don’t I order in? We can rent a pay-per-view movie since Matty’s fronting the bill. I think we deserve it after today.”

They ordered in Chinese and ate quietly through some terrible comedy that neither of them payed attention to. When the movie had finally ended, Mac helped Riley clean up the remnants of their take-out containers.

“You’ll be alright?” Mac asked her, taking in the fact that she had been taking her time cleaning up, obviously not wanting to be alone any more than he wanted to right now.

She nodded, playing awkwardly with the hem of her shirt as they stood by the door.

“Remember,” he added, “I’m right next door should you need anything—absolutely anything. Don’t worry about waking me.”

Even though he knew the remaining members of the Conway’s organization had been rounded up earlier that evening, he couldn’t help but to worry. He resisted the urge to offer to stand watch that night, knowing Matty had security guards working the floor of their hotel. No one at the Phoenix was taking any chance after what had happened earlier. Mac had put in a call to Jack right after they’d gotten off the phone with Matty, and he was not pleased that they wouldn’t be flying back home until the next morning.

Mac made sure to check the locks on Riley’s hotel door when he went to leave. He fidgeted with them longer than necessary, wishing something would break so he would have a way to deal with all his pent-up anxiety. A hand came to rest down on his, bringing his fidgeting to a stop.

“Mac, the locks are fine,” she assured him. “ _I’m_ fine. You need to stop worrying.”                                                                                                                                             

Mac looked at her, nodding quietly. Riley hated the sadness in his eyes—the way her hero chastised himself when she had nothing but gratitude for him. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. He paused a second, apprehensive, before allowing himself to embrace her back.

“Thank you, Mac. _Thank you.”_

He pressed his face into her hair as he relished in the feeling. Riley. Alive. He could feel the beautiful sensation of her slow, steady heartbeat against him. He found himself needing this physical connection from her more than anything else right now. It comforted him more than her words of assurance ever could. Finally, the stress that had pent up over the course of the day seemed to melt.

Riley took comfort in the arms of a man who she always knew would do absolutely everything necessary to protect her—his actions today had proven that. In this line of work, being able to trust someone with your life meant _everything._

They held on to one another, neither agent willing to let go, knowing the minute they went to sleep in their separate rooms they would be left dealing with the nightmares of what happened today alone.

Mac pulled back enough to see fear reflecting in Riley’s dark brown eyes. Near-death experiences were commonplace for them, but there had been something different about to day—something about the ruthlessness in Roberto’s threats that uneased them both.

Mac wasn’t really sure how it happened, or _why_ it happened, but a few moments later he was kissing her. Not a peck of the lips, but a hungry, needy all-consuming kiss that caused Riley to respond with a quiet hum in the back of her throat.

When she gave him no signal that she wanted him to stop, Mac’s foot flew back to kick the door closed behind them before guiding her backwards towards the bed, his lips never leaving hers. And then she was lying on the bed, her hair sprawled out beautifully around her face as he lay atop her, lips on her neck as her hands wove through his hair.

Riley’s hands glided up under his shirt, over his lower abdomen before he sat up for a second only to remove his soiled, button-up shirt before discarding it to the floor. Her hands were careful on his body, not wanting to aggravate any injuries but needing to touch him all the same.

Mac kissed deep into the V of her t-shirt until his hands grabbed the bottom hem, pushing the fabric up to reveal her black, lacy bra as he pulled the garment up over her head. He pulled her against him, hands caressing the smooth skin of her back as he relished in the skin-to-skin touch of their bodies pressed together.

Soft moans filled the room, hands and lips exploring. Mac’s hand came to cup her breast through her bra. He kissed the skin directly above the sheer, lacy fabric, sending jolts of excitement through her entire body and causing and ache between her thighs that the pressure of his body against her own did little to relieve.

Riley moved to straddle him, her hands only letting go of Mac for a second to reach behind her and unhook the lacy, black garment before pulling it down her arms, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink as Mac watched in wonder. His eyes flitted to hers.

“Are you sure?” he asked, huskily.

Was she? No, not entirely, but she found herself nodding just the same. Mac sat up, Riley still perched on his lap, palming her subtle breast before gently pulling a nipple between his lips and causing her to moan loudly. She could feel him growing hard beneath her, resulting in a shockwave of pleasure that coursed throughout her entire body out to the tips of her fingers.

Riley grinded against him, eliciting another groan. She reached down between them, her hand tentatively sliding beneath the waistband of his pants and boxers and wrapping around him. Mac’s head fell back, mouth agape, his tip dripping with arousal.

“Riley,” Mac groaned, capturing her wrists, and gently flipping her over so that he lay atop her. Then he was peeling off her skinny jeans before quickly shucking off his own pants, leaning in and capturing her lips with his own. She let out a soft whimper as his fingers found the slick folds of skin between her thighs. Mac cradled his pelvis between her legs, slowly easing into her. Her fingertips pressed into the skin of his shoulders, feeling the muscles of his back flexing as he began to thrust inside of her at a slow, even pace.

Mac let out a strangled breath. She felt good— _so incredibly good_. He loved the soft moans she made, the softness of her curves against his body, the fullness of her breasts against his chest, and the small “o” her lips formed as her eyes fluttered shut.

Mac leaned in, kissing her forehead as he picked up the pace, moving in and out of her with abandon. He needed this right now—needed it more than anything he’d ever known.

Riley was unable to contain her shouts of pleasure as the momentum built, and Mac shuddered as he came hard inside of her.

And there they lie afterwards—naked and sweaty but sated, staring up at the flashing light on the smoke detector overhead and wondering what the hell they’d just done.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mac and Riley want everything to go back to normal, and nothing does.

The loud ringing of the hotel phone woke Mac from his short-lived slumber. He threw an arm over his eyes, shielding them from the early morning sun as he blindly reached out for the receiver.

“-llo?” his groggy voice answered.

There was a pause before Matty’s confused voice could be heard over the line.

“MacGyver?”

He rolled over on his side.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing answering the line in Riley’s room?”

Mac’s eyes widened as the memories of what had happened the previous night came flooding back. _Shit._ He quickly sat up, pulling the bed’s comforter over his naked lap and glancing over his shoulder at Riley’s sleeping form. The bed sheet was wound tightly around her waist, her arms pillowing her head. She stirred slightly.

He probably should have went back to his room last night, especially considering the awkwardness that followed what they had done. Neither had said much to one another. Neither had really known _what_ to say to one another _,_ yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave her.

Mac pulled his hand down his face, still exhausted. “Riley…ran out of ice,” he offered. A lame excuse that Matty certainly wasn’t buying.

“Uh huh….” she said, annoyed. “Well as soon as you get done filling Riley’s _ice bucket,_ maybe you two would like to go downstairs and meet the car I told you last night would be there at six sharp.”

“Yeah…yeah…sorry…overslept.”

“Well, that’s apparent,” Matty replied, a knowing tone in her voice. “And let Riley know that the information she transmitted last night was successfully decoded. Good job on this mission, you two.”

“Thanks. We’ll be downstairs in 15.”

Mac sighed, hanging up the phone. He reached back, rubbing the soreness out of his neck as he turned to meet Riley’s gaze. The sheet was pulled up under her arms now, her eyes watching him curiously.

“Car’s here,” he simply said, grabbing his shirt from the previous night and pulling it on. Mac felt overexposed dressing in front of her even though they had slept together only six hours prior.

She nodded, looked tired and unsure.

Mac’s hand reached under the blanket, rooting around for his boxers and pulling a lacy black pair of panties out instead. He blushed as he quickly discarded them on Riley’s side of the bed.

“I’ll get a shower and meet you downstairs?” he asked over his shoulder as he tugged his trousers back on.

“Okay.”

Mac went back to his room for a quick shower, letting the warm spray hit him for longer than necessary as it eased his aching body parts. He reflected over what he’d done last night. Even then he knew that sleeping with Riley was a horrible idea. She was one of his closest friends. He had always felt comfortable around Riley, but now he was finding it hard to say even the simplest things to her.

Not only that, but she was basically his best friend’s daughter. Mac knew good and well there was an unspoken rule about these things.

Mac had had one night stands before. They were not a regular occurrence in his life, but with the difficulty he had in maintaining a steady relationship, he found himself picking up cute girls at the club from time to time. The want for the fleetingness of the unions had always been mutual, and they were never with people from _work._

It had been different with Nikki. They had become romantically attracted to each other almost instantly.  There had never been a period of time when he had thought of her as “just a friend” or “off limits.” Bozer had all but called dibs on Riley (which was terribly sexist to think about, but guys just didn’t hit on girls their best friends were really, really into). Sure, Bozer had Lianne now, but there was a good period of time Mac, although certainly finding Riley physically attractive, would not let his mind go _there_.

Mac had been upset that things had gone wrong yesterday, and Riley had seemed to be feeling overly-indebted to his near-fail rescue (he had been willing to put other’s lives on the line to keep her safe—that wasn’t exactly _heroic_ ). He had certainly gotten things started, and now the guilt of taking advantage of the situation plagued him. He had never wanted to hurt her, and taking advantage of her was doing just that.

At the time, being with Riley had felt right _,_ even when he knew how _wrong_ it was. How did he back-track now? How was he supposed to undo this mess he had made?

Mac turned off the spray to the shower, quickly dressed, and packed his things. Riley was already standing in the lobby, damp, unbrushed hair pulled into a messy bun and thumbs hooked in the straps of her backpack. She glanced towards him as he met up with her, and then quickly turned her head, heading in the direction of the exit. Mac’s grimaced, his hand reaching out to her arm and stopping her instantly.

“Riley,” he began uncertainly. “I uh-I just wanted to say, that my actions last night were…inappropriate.” Memories of her naked body writhing against his danced in his memory. The grunts, the gasps, the pawing, the loud moan that filled the room as they climaxed together. Inappropriate. Well, that was one way of putting it.

 “Mac,” Riley finally interrupted him from his embarrassing apology, “I was there, too. We made a mistake. There’s nothing for you to apologize for. Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay?”

He quietly nodded. If only it was as easy as just erasing it from his mind, he thought.

It was going to be a long flight home.

*

Jack was waiting for Mac and Riley at the Phoenix with open arms, pulling them both into an awkward embrace at the same time.

“It was too close this time, man, too close. I don’t care if your next op is a mind-numbing , data-information-stealing, nerd-specialty, coma-inducing borefest, I’m coming with you no matter what.”

Mac grinned, hugging him back. He had to agree—leaving Jack behind on this one had been a bad idea in more ways than one. Apparently at 27, Mac still needed a babysitter to keep him out of trouble.

“We missed you too, Jack,” Riley said with a smile.

Matty debriefed the two, Mac and Riley sitting on opposite sides of the table as they gave their account of what had happened. The playful banter that their debriefings usually held (also, which Matty had always found so incredibly _annoying_ ) was gone, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. Matty’s gaze darted from one agent to another as they spoke professionally, leaving out the jokes and small talk.

When it was all over, Jill, who sat at the end of the table taking notes, closed her laptop and left to type up the report. Matty stood at the table, leaning onto her hands and sighing.

“Listen, you two, whatever you do with one another on your own time is your personal business,” she started, Riley shifting uncomfortably in her seat as Mac looked away. “But if it’s going to affect the team-“

“It won’t,” Mac quickly spoke up, hating that he was even discussing this with his boss. “It was nothing. A mistake,” he offered, mirroring Riley’s words from earlier that day. “It won’t affect or jobs.”

Matty looked at him, disbelieving after witnessing their interaction—or lack thereof—during the debriefing. She could only hope the two agents wouldn’t remain this awkward forever, especially seeing the strain it was already putting on their relationship.

“Okay,” she finally offered, “Go home and get some rest then. It’s back to work first thing tomorrow.”

Mac and Riley nodded, leaving the room and each going off their separate ways.

*

“-and then Lianne invited me to her grandmother’s 80th birthday party. Man, saying ‘I love you’ was one thing, but this? A little intense. Mac, are you even listening?” Bozer went on as Mac stared at the fire, beer in hand.

“Huh?”

“What I thought. What’s on your mind?” Bozer asked his best friend as Jack meandered outside with another beer, collapsing next to them around the fire pit.

Mac shook his head. “I don’t know. Yesterday…it was kind of terrifying.”

“Yeah, it’s not every day that you’re almost murdered,” Jack said sarcastically as he took another sip of beer. “You should be used to it by now, man.”

“Does anyone ever get used to almost being killed?” Bozer asked. “Because I gotta admit, the thought scares me senseless, and I stared death in the face-“

“The little stab wound?” Jack said with a half-drunk snort. “That’s _nothing._ Mac, remember that bullet I took back in Afghanistan?”

“It wasn’t me,” Mac went on, ignoring the start of another one of Jack’s stories. “I mean, I did have a gun to my head, and I knew how that was probably going to end. It was watching them threaten Riley, seeing how scared she was and knowing there wasn’t anything I could do for her,” he said with a sigh, pulling at the label on his beer. “Do you guys think she’s in the right place here? She’s a hacker, albeit a tough one, but her specialty isn’t exactly kicking people’s asses-“

“And neither is yours’ or Bozer’s, Mac,” Jack said. “I’ll admit the whole idea of having her out in the field made me nervous at first, but Riley’s one bad ass chick. She’s proven that she can handle herself.”

“Jack’s right, Mac,” Bozer chimmed in. “She’s helped us out so many times. Do you realize how many missions she’s made a success? I agree that I worry about her too sometimes. Maybe because she’s a girl, and I was raised to always protect a woman, but she knows what she’s doing. Besides, wasn’t it you who just a few months ago that was trying to convince Jack of this very thing?”

Bozer was right. What had changed in the past few months? Maybe it was easier before he had gotten to know Riley so well and had really started to care about her. He had always _liked_ Riley, but before she was just Phoenix’s analyst, and danger was part of the job. Now, she was a member of his family. As time went on, Mac found himself becoming more protective of the young woman even though she was only gaining more field experience along the way.

“I know it wasn’t real now,” Mac said softly, looking down at the bottle in his hands. “But watching Nikki die—it still gives me nightmares. If something like that ever happened to Riley, I’m not sure I could forgive myself.”

Jack’s hand reached out to squeeze Mac’s shoulder. “We all care about her, but maybe there’s another way? More training? Get her a gun or something.”

Riley with a gun didn’t make Mac feel any better about the whole situation.

“Where is Riley at tonight anyway?” Bozer asked. “I figured she’d need a cold beer and a plate of my famous ribs more than anyone right now.”

Mac sighed into the neck of the beer bottle that rested against his lips before finishing it off. He had wrongly assumed that Riley would just fit back into his life as his co-worker/close friend, but he hated that she felt she couldn’t be there tonight. He had been one of the first friend’s she’d made when she left prison—her old friends had basically abandoned her. He had welcomed her into their little group with no reservation despite her very vague criminal background. Riley had come quite comfortable with hanging out at his house. After only a few weeks of knowing one another, it became her second home.

Mac excused himself as Bozer and Jack chatted over a plate of cold, leftover ribs and made for bed. Feeling her absence more than anyone else, he picked up his phone and composed a quick text to Riley:

_You’re still welcome at my place anytime. I really don’t want things to stay weird between us._

He placed his phone on the nightstand, sinking into his mattress. He really wasn’t surprised when her reply never came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a 3-shot, but it's panning out to be a 4-shot. If I create just one MacRiley shipper, it was all worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

Riley stared at the ceiling above her in the dark room, feeling the presence of Mac lying quietly next to her.

“You okay?” he finally asked her, his deep voice rough.

She could feel him looking at her, waiting for her to say something—waiting for her to help him make sense of what they’d just done. What the hell were you supposed to say after sleeping with your best friend?

She honestly considered Mac—along with Bozer—one of her best friends. She knew that she could always count on the them both. Maybe that’s why she had ignored Bozer’s constant advances towards her. She didn’t want to ruin their group dynamic. _Too late now._

“Yeah,” she answered in a small voice. She could hear Mac inhale deeply, but he remained silent. He was obviously having major regrets about all of this this right now. Honestly, could she blame him?

Tears welled in Riley’s eyes, and she was grateful the room was dark so that Mac couldn’t see.

Riley knew what this was to him. Mac was so good as pushing aside his emotions. When he finally allowed them to overcome him, well, he dealt with them in interesting ways.

Adrenaline is what caused him to make himself a moving target to a state-of-the-art heat-seeking bullet, attempt to disarm bombs with less than 15 seconds left on the clock, and, apparently, decide to sleep with his analyst when it felt like things had been too far out of his control. Angus MacGyver was always busy. That’s why his hands always reached for paperclips whenever he was feeling anxious and trying to think, why he had been working on the impossibly wrecked bike in his living room since she’d met him, why he built that damn robot in the lab at Phoenix. The combination of the two had been too overwhelming, and, somehow, Riley had become another tool to help him cope with his emotions.

The worst part? She had never been able to get a handle on her feelings for him after he’d broken her out of that supermax. She admired him from the very beginning and had fallen for him slowly. It was easier to deal with those unrequited feelings when Mac didn’t reciprocate them, but now they had been more intimate than any two people who _aren’t_ supposed to have romantic feelings for one another could be. And it was all a lie. Riley knew that. She couldn’t blame Mac for what had happened when she knew the end result would be exactly this.

It wasn’t long before Riley could hear Mac’s soft snores. She sighed and turned to study his profile in the dim room, a small amount of light that came from the city lights outside illuminating his features. At least now he didn’t look so conflicted. She pillowed her head on her arms as she watched him sleep.

No matter how hard she had tried, Riley still couldn’t stop herself from loving him.

He offered her an apology that next morning, attempting to make up for his blunder of kissing her and getting all of this started in the first place. Telling Mac that it was a mistake in an attempt to falsely reassure him that she was fine was one thing, hearing those words from him when he explained things to Matty was quite another.

He texted her later that night, telling her that he didn’t want things to be weird, and that she was welcome in his home any time. It took all she had not to let that text cloud her vision on what their relationship was—two good friends and who had made one very bad choice and who would never be more than that.

* * *

 

The next morning, Mac, Jack, and Bozer were already in the war room awaiting their assignment when Riley walked in 15 minutes late, her thoughts having kept her up the night before. Matty, who would have made a snarky comment any other time Riley was late, chose to ignore her employee’s late arrival and got straight to business.

Riley glanced to her side when she felt Jack sidle up next to her.

“You alright, kid? We missed you last night,” he said quietly under his breath while Matty quickly briefed the team on a foreign assassin who had been targeting key members of the US government. She looked up, meeting Mac’s gaze as he watched their exchange.

“I’m fine, Jack.”

“If you ever need to talk-“

“I know,” Riley interrupted with a genuine smile. “Your door’s always open. Thanks, Jack.”

Riley knew Jack was talking about their nearly-failed mission, but there was no way she could ever talk to him about what was really bothering her. She didn’t need to complicate his friendship with Mac, too.

She had barely been listening to what Matty had been saying when the director’s words caught Riley’s attention, “-and Mac and Jack are to bring back the laptop for Riley to analyze. Whatever information about the plans for the imminent attack are going to be on that hard drive, so be careful with the device once it’s in your hands, boys. It’s literally the key to stopping the murder of over a dozen foreign diplomats.”

Riley, frowned, looking up. “Wait a minute. I’m staying here for this one?”

Matty offered her a fake smile. “Nice of you to join us, Riley.”

She ignored the comment, shaking her head. “If the data is that sensitive, shouldn’t I _be_ there? I can copy it as soon as they get the laptop, minimize any loss or damage. Matty, I’ve _always_ been in the field for these types of missions. Why am I being left out on this one?”

With a sigh, the older woman slowly walked towards her. “Riley, this is a risky mission. After a lot of thought and discussion with both your teammates and a meeting with Oversight, we’ve decided to limit your fieldwork from here on out.”

Riley frowned, her eyebrows pulling together as she eyed her teammates. Mac shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, and suddenly everything made sense. They were nixing her from this mission because _he_ didn’t want her there.

“Riley, you need to understand that you’re still a very vital part of this team, but your safety-“

“Bull!” the girl quickly interrupted. “This has never been an issue before. How many times has Mac been shot now? He was poisoned with deadly _nerve gas._ Bozer was stabbed! And Jack—I mean, the guy’s had to have gone through something to end up this way!”

“Hey,” Jack retorted with a frown.

Matty offered her a half-smile. “Riley, we’re not doing this because we think you’re uncapable. The job title “Analyst” doesn’t require being able to take a bullet. We’re doing this because we don’t think it’s worth putting your life at risk. You can analyze a hard drive here at Phoenix, in the lab, just as easily as you can out in the field.”

Riley shook her head in disbelief as she stared down at her shoes, deciding it best to remain quiet instead of continuing to argue with her very strong-willed boss.

“Alright, let’s get going. Wheels up in 10, boys.”

She didn’t watch as her coworkers left the room, but Jack did pause at her side for a moment to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he passed. Matty was still staring at her when she finally looked up. The older woman sighed before she began to speak.

“I know what you’re going through right now, Riley. The two of you said everything was a mistake and that it wouldn’t effect anything, but you’re both wrong.”

Riley’s eyebrows drew together. “I can still do my job, Matty.”

Matty slowly nodded, her lips pursed together. “It’s not your job that I’m worried about, Riley. I’m worried about _you_.” The woman began to slowly pace the room as she spoke. “I was in the same situation when I was younger. I was friends with a man who I,” she paused, closing her eyes as she seemed to recall something painful. “Let’s just say that I made a mistake. It didn’t end well. I see the way you look at MacGyver, and I know that it wasn’t a mistake to you.”

Riley swallowed hard, feeling her eyes burn. She felt as if she had just been completely screwed over by the one man in her life that she had always trusted. Mac had stated he didn't want things to stay weird. However, after only 12 hours, it was obvious that this entire mess had become too hard for him to deal with, and he had easily gotten rid of her. He had pulled a 180, and now she was the one paying for their mistake.

“But I also want to say that that boy cares a lot about you, Riley,” Matty went on. “I think that you mean a lot more to him than you know,” she reassured the young woman before exiting the room, leaving Riley completely alone with her thoughts.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, life got in the way of fan fiction writing. I hate when that happens.

**Author's Note:**

> My intention when starting this was to make this a three-chapter fic, but I'm bad at updating things so I wrote this chapter so it could stand alone ya know, just in case.


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